From Yahoo Finance 10:30 am : The market is off its best levels, in part due to a recent reversal in the Energy sector, but is holding onto respectable gains as investors digest more confirmation that the housing market is stabilizing. At the top of the hour, the Commerce Dept. showed that sales of new homes rose 3.5% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.047 mln (consensus 1.015 mln) while median sales prices rose 5.8% from a year ago. Even though not too much emphasis should be placed on median sales prices, the fact that they rose for a second straight month (and/or did not decline) helps to alleviate worries that the downshift in house price appreciation may spill over into consumer spending.DJ30 +66.17 NASDAQ +9.40 SP500 +5.42 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 756/1917/234 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 612/2302/144 mln
